The Battle Against the Black Fang

Leaving Fernando's house, Vallynor looked at the ship where Alexander was fighting Black Tooth. He remembered what Fernando had told him, and then he headed towards Riku.

On the rooftop, Riku and two girls were already waiting for him, embracing each other as they watched the battle.

"You're here early? Gabriel should be busy working on maintaining the barrier," Riku said.

"Yes, and those two..."

"They are my wives," Riku said, and as he stood up, he kissed his wives.

Vallynor breathed a sigh of relief when Riku helped him put on the earring. A thought crossed his mind: "Doesn't Riku care about protecting his rear? But it seems everything is fine."

"Let's begin the training," Vallynor suggested.

***

"That's all for today," Vallynor said as he exited that dreadful, black world, and looked at the ongoing battle between Alexander and Black Tooth, as well as other skirmishes.

After observing for a while, Vallynor sighed, listening to all the shouts of this pirate, and then returned to his room.

In the room, he meditated until it was time and immediately entered the world of the dead, where he met the Old Man once again. The Old Man immediately began his training, and they proceeded to practice.

***

Exiting the world of the dead, Vallynor immediately opened the task panel. After confirming one task, it was replaced by another, which seemed similar but had a reduced reward.

Sitting in a lotus position, Vallynor began meditating to train his soul and consciousness. After a few hours, feeling tired, he stopped for the day.

Vallynor, under the covers in his bed, closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep... Mmm... Sss... Bang. Damn it. They haven't finished fighting yet.

Due to the loud noise, Vallynor couldn't fall asleep. He started counting sheep but quickly got bored when he reached 164. Reflecting on his life and past, he remembered various songs and began to sing softly:

"...Cave dwellers! Cave dwellers! We're proud cave dwellers! We explore caves..." — while he recalled different funny scenes or 18+ caves with the famous bald guy from... ahem, ahem.

***

Bang! A powerful explosion woke Vallynor, and he continued to sing:

"...Cave dwellers! Wha... Are they completely insane?"

Getting out of bed, Vallynor changed into his training attire, which a maid had left at the door, and moved to the training arena, where a weary Nefan awaited.

Seeing Vallynor, he perked up a bit and approached him. Vallynor noticed that he looked tired. His black eyes immediately gave away his condition.

"Why are you so tired?" Vallynor asked, not even greeting Nefan.

"I fought and continued to fight until Alexander told me to come. He won't be here today or tomorrow. I hope I'll be your only trainer for these two days. Let's begin... Today, I will teach you the basics of close combat. As a mage, you will recite various glowing incantations, and as a necromancer, you will summon undead to fight in your stead. But don't think it will always work. There will always be those who can evade your minions and spells," Nefan said. "That's why a mage must train and know how to fight, not just rely on the power of magic. Otherwise, even a strong gust of wind can blow you away, and you'll fall and die."

Vallynor immediately remembered how in one game, the final main villain died by falling down the stairs without even facing the hero. Various books and stories also proved that only fools rushed to die, leaving their body behind without developing their magic.

Nefan, seeing the determination in the boy's eyes before him, got excited and wanted to train him even harder. A long-forgotten feeling filled his soul, the feeling he once had when he was a teacher.

"Attack without using weapons or magic," Nefan ordered Vallynor. Vallynor understood that Nefan would teach him the martial arts.

***

A few hours later, Vallynor returned to his room and began massaging his hands, feeling that his bones were not in the right position, and some were even broken. Despite the absence of pain, he still had an uncomfortable sensation, like a pebble in his shoe. Soon, he discovered a few small stones in his boots and wondered where they came from.

Perhaps they had appeared during his training with Nefan, but the uncomfortable feeling in his bones persisted. Fortunately, his rapid regeneration helped him recover quickly, which was unusual for an undead. He was a special case, and all his wounds had already healed.

Changing his clothes, Vallynor headed to the blacksmith's shop, where he was surprised by the large crowd gathered. People jostled, shouted, and talked over one another, all eager to order weapons. Vallynor managed to push through the crowd and enter, listening to the surrounding chaos.

"A hundred arrows with the self-enchantment..."

"Give me ten swords, and for my girl, nine shields."

Everyone loudly declared their orders, interrupting each other. Inside the blacksmith's shop, Horkim worked alongside several gnomes tirelessly. When Horkim saw someone entering, he shouted:

"I told you to wait in the store! Are you all complete idiots? Is it already your turn? Oh, it's you! That's good! Quickly, come here!" Horkim swiftly shifted from being an angry old gnome to a cheerful and delighted employer, with a free worker ready to work overtime.

"Blacksmiths work not only with metal but also with wood, leather, and so on. Today, you'll be making shafts for arrows. I'll show you a few times and tell you some tricks. Listen carefully..."

After everything was explained, Horkim rushed back to the store, where he started selling and scolding, ensuring that customers lined up.

"Why do you need five swords? And you, a trident? Haven't you kept a single weapon over all these centuries?" Horkim exclaimed in annoyance, tired of listening to the swordsmen who came to order weapons, even though they already owned legendary weapons themselves.

"I had to sell mine," one of the customers exclaimed.

"I lost mine and my sword in a card game. Debts, you know," another added.

"Collectors were hounding me for my sword. They said the spirit of the sword, which can't become a human, looked very appealing to settle debts. So, I had to give it away in exchange for my pleasure doll," the last one said. After these words, everyone nearby took a step back.

They had seen many things in this world, but the idea of engaging in intercourse with a sword that had a spirit but couldn't become human made them ponder how it was possible. Many of them had lost their primary weapons. If not for that, they would never have resorted to buying hastily crafted weapons. But now was not the time for nitpicking.

Continuing to craft less than perfect arrow shafts, Vallynor looked at the gnome sharpening swords nearby and asked:

"Why did all these people come today to buy weapons?"

"Because of the battle," the gnome replied, pausing for a moment.

"What battle?" Vallynor asked in surprise. He knew that Alexander was fighting Black Tooth, but it was strange that so many people rushed to help Alexander, the world's first warrior. He wondered why the battle had not yet ended.

"In the battle against the Fallen..." the gnome began but then looked at Vallynor's pensive expression, realizing he knew nothing. So, he began to explain.

"The battle between Black Tooth and Alexander drew the attention of several powerful entities who fell and went completely insane. And when Black Tooth fled, he attracted even more Fallen..."

"Wait, wait. Black Tooth fled? Then who's causing those powerful earthquakes after their battles?" Vallynor interrupted.

"It's caused by the Fallen ghost ships that appeared immediately after Black Tooth left. It's a kind of Fallen..."

"YES, YES, FINALLY!" they all heard Black Tooth's cry.

"He came back after all?" Vallynor asked himself, hearing the cursed pirate's yell.

"You said he fled, didn't you?"

"Yes, he fled, setting many Fallen upon the city. And as it seems, he came back. Ah, it seems we'll need a week to drive him out..."

"Why not just kill him?" the gnome asked without hesitation, but then he realized that Black Tooth would return anyway.

"They're too slippery. If we could destroy their physical forms, we'd use a magical instrument that attracts souls and consumes them. Without that instrument, our city would be overwhelmed with the Fallen, and the attacks would never cease."

"I see," Vallynor said, concluding the conversation, and continued his work.

***

Exiting the blacksmith's shop, Vallynor quickly moved to the bathhouse, where he washed up. Then, dressed in a cloak, he made his way to Caesar. Caesar, finishing the last words in a golden book, closed it and handed it to Vallynor. Vallynor silently took the book and placed it in his inventory.

Caesar smiled, nodded, and rose from his work desk, then began to speak:

"Today, we will talk about spells. Specifically, how to counter them and understand what can counter them. As you know, everything has its natural enemy. For instance, the elements of water and fire are opposites that cannot coexist. If spellcasters use fire-based spells, they can be countered with water-based spells, and so on..."

Caesar started explaining all the nuances and methods to counter spells.

At the end of the lesson, Caesar said:

"Today, you will resume your studies with Fernando. Then, you will teach Gabriel's daughter. Gabriel himself cannot step away from the barrier."

"Alright."

Observing Vallynor's departure, Caesar looked out of the window at the battlefield, reminiscing about how challenging it was to persuade Gabriel to allow his daughter to learn from Vallynor. Because of this, Vallynor missed a day of training.

***

Vallynor moved towards Fernando's house. Listening to the cries and gunshots, he looked towards the source and saw flying monsters and ships. Turning his gaze towards the music teacher's house, he pondered why he needed to learn music. He found several answers to this question. The most important one was not about musical instrument tricks but the ability to play the piano and violin, performing various songs, from classics to dark-themed melodies. But his hands never quite reached for it.

Sometimes he had to hunt down fat officials for sacrifices or find ways to protect himself from the curses that witch placed on him. But in the end, it wasn't some mystique that killed him; it was the cliché in the form of a truck, or in his case, a bus.

Entering Fernando's house, Vallynor saw the host himself, cleaning and preparing a musical instrument.

"Oh, you've finally come!" Fernando said, rising joyfully and walking over to Vallynor, extending his hand for a handshake, then pointing to a chair. "Yesterday, I explained the basics, and today we'll dive deeper. I'll teach you how to delicately use a musical instrument so you can reproduce music that emanates from your soul. We'll start with simpler instruments first, and then move on to more complex and captivating ones, like this big guy." Fernando pointed happily at the organ.

Vallynor shared in Fernando's joy and smiled as he began playing various instruments under Fernando's guidance.

Those two hours passed by very quickly. Leaving, Vallynor felt unsatisfied. He didn't know how, but he rapidly absorbed the skills of playing instruments. Of course, it was the "watch and replicate" method. It didn't always work the first time, but the teaching approach that Fernando proposed worked miraculously.

He started with one instrument and smoothly transitioned to another, applying the acquired experience, which significantly helped. In the end, he even managed to play a simple melody on the piano, which delighted Fernando.

Looking at his hand, he saw a bracelet. Remembering how joyfully Fernando had given it to him, he realized that it was one of his last artifacts that could transform into the desired musical instrument. The only thing he needed to do was to keep it energized all the time while it was in instrument form.

Vallynor felt a certain melancholy as he gazed at the bracelet. He didn't know why. Maybe he saw how he was entangled in this situation, or perhaps his sadness became noticeable. Then he said:

"This artifact belonged to my music partner and blood brother. He outshone everyone, even me... He died during the war. This bracelet isn't just a musical instrument; it's his... soul. Now, it just sits and collects dust. I'm sure he'd be pleased if a talented young person like you, who loves music as much as I do, used this bracelet. Of course, I won't just give it to you. Ha-ha-ha. When you've learned to play well enough, you can perform various melodies for me. I'd love to hear your world through music. Music created by your people."

Not knowing why, but this touched me. I put on the bracelet, which initially appeared to be plain and simple, and instantly teleported us. At the door of the room, a beautiful girl with shoulder-length golden hair awaited me. She paced back and forth, clearly waiting for something, and seemed very nervous. But that's not for sure.

Spotting me, she stopped and let out a deep sigh several times. Then she approached me, extended her hand for a handshake, and said:

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Ashley. I'm the daughter of the owner of the tower of mages, Gabriel. Today, and possibly for the whole week, I'll be practicing magic in my father's stead," she began happily, talking and explaining.

"My name is Vallynor. I thank you for teaching me."

"Don't be so polite. Maybe I'm older than you, but I'm still a young woman. Let's move to another floor," she said, placing her hand on my shoulder and instantly teleporting us.

Looking around, I realized that we were on a training ground with various targets and weapons.

"My father always emphasized basic skills and talked about them for months, forgetting about practice. But I will start with teaching combat use of simple magic – fire," she said, raising her hand in front of her, creating a fireball and throwing it at the target.

"First, do it like me: raise your hand and mentally say the incantation 'Fire,' imagining how fire should look and act. You should also recite the incantation in your mind. The word 'Fire' will be the initializing word... Wait, wait..." Ashley surprised me as I was about to repeat after her. "You're rushing too much. I haven't even explained everything properly. Okay?"

"Yes. Watching Ashley, I can't help but compare her to the young teachers who, after lessons, keep students back to talk about studying. But in reality..."

"Cough, cough, please pay attention and don't think about silly stuff," Ashley interrupted me, her cheeks flushed.

Does she read my thoughts? Actually, Ashley can't read minds, but she managed to figure out where I was looking. And I was indeed looking at her chest and backside. If this were before the world was cursed, she would have found it offensive. But during the time spent in this cursed world, she had changed and herself, a few times, wanted to sleep with a man. But the evil Gabriel always got in the way. And now she would be lying if she said she wasn't interested in me. I took her glance as a compliment. After all, I didn't look at her in the same way as others, no matter how attractive her backside was.

"Alright, keep the fireball going. And don't make it stronger or weaker. Feel the flow of energy within you..." Ashley stood aside, giving instructions.

Vallynor kept the fireball at a meter's distance, which had a blue hue. He practiced controlling it and his own energy flows. Thanks to his night training with the Old Man, he wasn't a complete failure.

Watching Vallynor, Ashley assessed him at an acceptable level. He had very poor control over spells, which reduced his effectiveness. She doubted he would be able to kill the Forest Queen based on what she knew about Vallynor.

Checking the time, Ashley clapped her hands, and the fireball that Vallynor was controlling disappeared. Slightly puffing out her cheeks, she began shaking her head and said:

"You need more training. You have very poor spell control. That's why I was able to destroy it so easily... That's all for today."

"Thank you for the lesson," Vallynor replied.

"You're welcome. See you tomorrow. Bye," Ashley bid farewell and vanished, leaving Vallynor alone.

Looking around, Vallynor teleported to Rick for another round of training.

***

Appearing in the room, Vallynor felt tired. Today during the lesson, he had finally started to feel and manage to some extent the attacks, much like how Rick had trained him, sending his women to attack him. Now, however, three attackers were coming at him at once.

A bit of time remained. Glancing at his bracelet, Vallynor infused it with some energy and thought of a flute. Instantly, a flute appeared in his hand.

A simple melody filled the entire room. After playing for a few minutes, Vallynor stopped, scratched his head a little, and smirked wickedly. Then, he began playing the flute again, this time parodying the famous scar-faced boy's song.

As he played this parody, Vallynor remembered a time when he was playing poker with his friends, sitting by the window. Suddenly, someone started playing this melody, and the stick holding the curtains fell on his head. Everyone laughed, thinking that a magical wand had struck him, or that it was the time for evil, marking his bump on the head. Those were the times, before those cursed creatures ruined everything.

Leaving behind those bitter thoughts, Vallynor started experimenting with the bracelet, turning it into various instruments: a piano, a guitar, a violin. He even managed to turn it into an electric guitar. He could have continued this game for hours, but realizing it was time, he quickly returned the bracelet to its true form and entered the book.

There, the Old Man was already waiting for him, this time stroking a lifeless monkey. Lifting it up, the Old Man continued to caress it with his bony fingers while the monkey, being undead, seemed to enjoy this caress. But how could it sense and enjoy it? Questions remained unanswered.

"Soon, we'll part ways, and you'll get to meet the others. They'll teach you everything else. All that's required from you is the desire to become stronger," the Old Man said.

"Are you going somewhere?" Vallynor couldn't understand. Where was he supposed to go? Certainly, the Old Man was peculiar, and Vallynor had many questions to ask. Nevertheless, over these past few days, he had somehow grown attached to this strange old man with a bag of bones.

"Don't worry, I'll just disappear for a while. The main thing I needed to do, I've already done. Now, it's just a matter of repeating some things with you. The rest is up to you. Let's begin the lesson. But first, pay up. Remember, it's an equal exchange," the Old Man said.

"Yes, Old Man," Vallynor replied.

***

Due to the attack by the Black Fang, many were on the battlefield, fighting against the army of the Fallen and the Black Fang himself. The Black Fang was attempting to capture the girl and escape, so all the girls stood by the wall inside a magical barrier, attacking from a distance. Others were either leaving the city or returning to avoid spending too much time in the outer world, where filthy energy full of dirt permeated everywhere. Alexander rested by the wall, awaiting the return of the Black Fang.